100 Mile House - 18 & 19th May

On the morning of Monday 18th (Queen Victoria Day - public holiday) Konrad took us to look round the heritage site at 108 Mile House. Here we looked at the old school house, barn and other houses from circa 1870 which have been restored and we spent some time in the shop buying the odd present for home. Konrad showed us the portable stage that the Rotary Club have built and which he is taking to Victoria for the conference. The stage is on a flatbed lorry and both sides drop as well as the roof to provide a substantial stage for events. It has superb Rotary publicity and is being hired out regulary. Konrad (Club President) then took us to the pub and treated us to lunch.
In the afternoon April took us to Green Lake where we visited the Buffalo ranch. We had a tour and saw the herd of cow buffalo with their calves. These enormous animals are, apparently, very easy to farm so long as you have substantial fences. On the way back we called in to see April's friend who has alpachas and peacocks and other exotic creatures and enjoyed a scenic drive around the 100 Mile area.
That evening we had dinner with our host families and Alison and I were treated to Moose steaks by Gerhard and Martina together with Robin and Denny, their two sons. We had a very pleasant evening in and put the world's problems to right. We are staying in a beautiful loghouse on a 200 acre ranch with horses, chickens, pheasants and dogs overlooking some wonderful scenary around the lake and over to the snow capped mountains. There is a real pioneering spirit around here and Gerhard is the epitome of self-sufficiency.
On Tuesday 19th we were taken by Roger (Conservation Officer) in search of badgers. He explained how they are endangered, mainly due to their lack of road awareness, and we tracked two down to their burrows using an ariel tuned to their micro-chips. We identified where they were sleeping but the only sighting we got was of a stuffed one in Roger's office. Peter, who had driven us around, took us to his home for lunch and we looked at his professional photos - he specialises in cowboy pictures which are dramatised through the effects such as back lighting.
We then vsiited a loghouse building company and saw how these are constructed locally before being dismantled and transported to their actual sites. The company transports these superb structures all over the world and has recently supplied homes in Japan, Australia and New Zealand as well as in North America.
We then had an hour looking round the local shops, at our request, before going to April's home for a barbeque. April's husband, Al, cooked up some enormous ribs and other Rotarians joined us (and brought lots more lovely dishes) for a really good social evening where we showed our slides and got to know one another. The weather wasn't behaving at all well and, as the vidoe shows, we were fortunate that John had erected a large tent to provide shelter from the snow!
Our time at 100 Mile House, over the bank holiday, has provided lots of interest and time to get to know our hosts who have treated us to more amazing hospitality. The Rotarians of District 5040 certainly know how to treat visitors.